The United States Independence day is a time for celebration. Items that make an independance day complete are 4th of july, fourth of july, fireworks, uncle sam, red white and blue, the statue of liberty, american flag, bbq, freedom, bald eagle, betsy ross, christopher columbus and any type of items involving the U.S.A. freedom.

The History Of Independence Day :
an essay by Christopher M. Columbus

Independence Day, or the Fourth of July is the adoption by the Continental
Congress on July 4, 1776, of the Declaration of Independence, proclaiming the
severance of the allegiance of the American colonies to Great Britain. It is
the greatest secular holiday of the United States, observed in all the states,
territories and dependencies.

Although it is assumed that the Continental Congress unanimously signed the
document on the 4th of July, in fact not all delegates were present and there
were no signers at all. Here is what really happened.

The congressional delegate from Virginia, Richard Henry Lee, introduced in the
Continental Congress, on June 7, 1776, a resolution "that...body declare the
United Colonies free and independent States, absolved from allegiance to or
dependence on the Crown or Parliament of Great Britain..." On June 10 a
committee of five, headed by Thomas Jefferson (the actual writer), was
appointed to prepare a declaration suitable to the occasion in the event that
the Virginia resolution was adopted. Jefferson's version was revised by
Benjamin Franklin and John Adams before it went to the Congress where they did
some editing of their own.

Congress approved the resolution July 2; the declaration composed by Jefferson
and amended by his committee was adopted July 4. That evening John Hancock
ordered Philadelphia printer John Dunlap to print 200 broadside copies of the
agreed upon Declaration that was signed by him as President and Charles Thomson
as Secretary. These were distributed to members of the Congress and distributed
to the 13 colonies and elsewhere. The Declaration was read in the yard of the
state house July 8. New York did not even vote on it until July 9. The
signing was even more gradual, and it is somewhat misleading to speak of the
"fifty-six original signers of the Declaration of Independence".

By August 6, most of those whose names are on the document had signed, but at
least six signatures were attached later. One signer, Thomas McKean did not
attach his name until 1781! Some of those who signed were not even in Congress
when the Declaration was adopted, and some who voted for it in Congress never
did get around to signing it. Robert R. Livingston was one of the committee of
five; he helped to frame it; he voted for it; and he never signed it.

The first anniversary of the declaration was observed only in Philadelphia,
Pa., by the adjournment of Congress, a ceremonial dinner, bonfires, the ringing
of bells and fireworks. In 1788, after the requisite number of states had
adopted the constitution, Philadelphia celebrated July 4 by elaborate
festivities, including a grand procession.

Boston, Mass., first observed the day in 1783, and thereafter this celebration
replaced that of the Boston Massacre, March 5. The custom spread to other
cities and states, where the day was marked by parades, patriotic oratory,
military displays and fireworks. In present time, games and athletic contests,
picnics, patriotic programs and pageants, and community fireworks of
pyrotechnic expertise are characteristic of the 4th of July.